Richmond, Day 4

Today was a full day of touring. It was 96 degrees here today with equal humidity.

I had one bus and Bobby Krick had the other. We ran in tandem. I saw several places that I’d never seen today, including a couple of additions to my list of obscure places.

The first stop was the Army of the Potomac’s crossing of the Pamunkey River at Hanovertown at the end of May 1864. I’d never been there before, but Bobby had arranged access to the ford with the landowner. From there, we went to Haw’s Shop, which I interpreted for the group. From there we went to Cloverlea plantation, which was the home of Ella Washington. Ella’s stepson was a West Point classmate of Custer’s, and when her stepson was captured during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, Custer treated him with great kindness. Consequently, Ella, who was a fervent secessionist, had a soft spot for Old Curly. The house still stands and recently got new owners. We were the first large tour group ever permitted on the property.

After lunch, we covered a couple of Peninsula Campaign sites related to Custer, then I interpreted the cavalry phase of the opening engagement at Cold Harbor (June 1, 1864). The final stop was Yellow Tavern, which Bobby and I did together.

The air conditioning on my bus failed during the middle of the day. By the end of the afternoon, it was so hot and so humid on that bus that I couldn’t stop sweating. It was really kind of disgusting.

I have a panel discussion tomorrow. When it’s done, I head to Chambersburg and then finally home on Sunday.